Operators of radio networks, such as cellular communication networks, may perform so-called drive tests wherein test equipment is moved within a coverage area of the network to determine information of the network, for example parameters relating to the network. The parameters may include the extent of network coverage, datarates obtained, parameters of discovered coverage holes, islands of coverage of a first cell within an area of a second cell and parameters relating to network availability.
To obtain coverage information, and possibly other information relevant in a geographical sense, the test equipment may be furnished with information as to current location. For example, a test van used to move the test equipment around the coverage area may have a satellite positioning receiver to determine its location, and the test equipment may be functionally connected to the satellite positioning receiver to automatically associate measurement data with the location in which the measurement data was obtained. Another possible way to determine location is by analyzing received signals from a plurality of base stations comprised in a cellular network, a technique known as time difference of arrival, TDOA, multilateration.
Since drive tests may involve operating mobile test equipment, obtaining the information of the network incurs cost to network operators. An alternative to specialized test equipment could be to at least partially assign the task of obtaining information on the network to mobiles using services of the network, for example cellular telephones in a cellular communication network.
Mobiles performing measurements may also have access to estimates of their location, in which case the mobiles may be configured to associate measurement data with location estimates pertaining to the measurement data.